A machine gun-wielding model parades across the screen of the Crosby Street Hotel’s subterranean screening room in New York on Tuesday. The seductive female is clad in nothing more than a pair of New Republic by Mark McNairy shoes from their 2018 men’s collection and, to maintain modesty, two thick black censorship bars bouncing along with each effervescent step.
This 12-minute film produced by the men’s wear designer featured a parade of women in the buff displaying affordably priced footwear from slip-on sandals to rose-colored boat shoes.
“It’s about shoes so I didn’t want to dress models in clothes to take away from the shoes so I decided to use naked people,” explained McNairy in his unhurried North Carolinian drawl. “Then I decided people would rather see naked girls than naked guys — and that’s just it.”
Once immersed in preppy design, the former creative director of J. Press has in recent years eschewed the Ivy League-inspired aesthetic he carried on while at the venerable American label.
“With respect to the heritage and tradition, I am by no means Ivy League,” continued the 56-year-old. “I appreciate elements of [that style], but I like workwear, military, punk and hippies.”
Those more cutting-edge looks can be seen
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